The correct answer wasn't too hard to spot. But would love to go over my reasoning for eliminating the wrongs, especially (C)
(A) Irrelevant; potential strengthener if we assume ancestors had a healthier diet relative to us
(B) Irrelevant; stimulus already allows such inference
(C) Irrelevant or Weakener??...I would say irrelevant.... since degree of variation of diet doesn't tell you much about dental health, but may slightly weaken as it puts ancestors and us on equal footing for at least on one aspect of diet...
(D) Weakens; by attacking the central assumption the diet is the determining factor of dental health.
(E) Correct answer
Thx.
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Re: Q6 - Skeletal remains
The argument is that because skeletons of early humans were found to have had fewer dental problems than we do, they most likely had a diet very different from ours.
The assumption of this argument is that the frequency of dental problems is indicative of diet. To strengthen this argument, we must find the answer that provides this link.
(A) On the surface, it looks like a contender. However, this response brings in the irrelevant adjective of "healthy." It does not strengthen the argument to say that a healthy diet leads to healthy teeth because the "healthiness" of the diets are not discussed. The other problem with this is that the stimulus is testing for the frequency of dental problems, so it is actually entirely consistent with the argument that earlier humans had healthy teeth, but just a larger number of dental problems (say 1 extra cavity).
(B) Does not strengthen the argument. The fact that at least one human had a significant number of cavities has no effect on the link between diet and dental problems.
(C) Does not strengthen the argument. It is not important for the earlier diet to be as varied as the contemporary diet.
(D) Does not strengthen the argument. That earlier humans had a shorter life span has no impact on the link between diet and dental problems.
(E) Correct answer. This answer provides a link between diet and dental health, strengthening the argument.
The assumption of this argument is that the frequency of dental problems is indicative of diet. To strengthen this argument, we must find the answer that provides this link.
(A) On the surface, it looks like a contender. However, this response brings in the irrelevant adjective of "healthy." It does not strengthen the argument to say that a healthy diet leads to healthy teeth because the "healthiness" of the diets are not discussed. The other problem with this is that the stimulus is testing for the frequency of dental problems, so it is actually entirely consistent with the argument that earlier humans had healthy teeth, but just a larger number of dental problems (say 1 extra cavity).
(B) Does not strengthen the argument. The fact that at least one human had a significant number of cavities has no effect on the link between diet and dental problems.
(C) Does not strengthen the argument. It is not important for the earlier diet to be as varied as the contemporary diet.
(D) Does not strengthen the argument. That earlier humans had a shorter life span has no impact on the link between diet and dental problems.
(E) Correct answer. This answer provides a link between diet and dental health, strengthening the argument.
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